As always, we’ll bring the historical background, the who’s who and copious amounts of jokes, so all you need to do is watch SummerSlam 1989: Feel the Heat!on the WWE Network before Wednesday, then RSVP on the official event page.

Ways to watch/listen are below. Scroll down for more information on SummerSlam 1989: Feel the Heat!

Right here, on this very page, live or after-the-fact, through the embedded YouTube video right up above

For the second-ever SummerSlam pay-per-view, WWF returned to their New York/New Jersey homebase, holding the event in the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. As covered on the WrestleMania V episode of STRAIGHT SHOOT RETRO, Hulk Hogan successfully recaptured the WWF Championship from his former friend and ally “Macho Man” Randy Savage. But that wasn’t the end of their feud, as Savage recruited Zeus, the antagonist from Hogan’s movie No Holds Barred, to help him feud with Hogan and his real-life bro, Brutus Beefcake, the newly minted Mega-Maniacs.

The card for SummerSlam 1989 stands in stark contrast to that of the NWA/WCW events proceeding it. With matches like the tag team main event, Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster and Jim Duggan & Demolition vs. Andre the Giant & The Twin Towers, the promotion was focusing more on flash and gimmick than solid fundamental wrestling, and the approach was paying off.

That’s not to say that WWF wasn’t also taking cues from their southern competitors, however, as the card also featured former Horsemen Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, as well as Dusty Rhodes, who had returned to the Northeastern promotion for the first time since the mid-1970s, follow his ousting as booker of JCP/WCW.